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Dashes as another form of internal punctuation convey a particular meaning or emphasize and clarify a certain section of material within a sentence. Compared with parentheses, dashes may convey a less formal or more emphatic “aside.” There are 4 types of dashes that differ in length: the em dash, the most common; the en dash; the 2-em dash; and the 3-em dash. When preparing a manuscript, if symbols for various dashes are not available in the word-processing program, use 2 hyphens to indicate an em dash (--) and 1 for an en dash (-). Em dashes are used to indicate

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